Krishnagiri soldier death: Will lead one-day fast, says Annamalai

CHENNAI: State BJP president K Annamalai on Thursday condemned the alleged killing of a 29-year-old Indian Army soldier and stated that the accused were arrested after a huge delay. The State BJP chief also said that he will be leading a one-day fast at the war memorial in Chennai along with retired army personnel of Tamil Nadu in a few days.

He told ANI, "The army soldier came on a holiday and was assaulted by a councillor. The police took six-to-seven days to hype it up and after media outcry, they were arrested. This has become a national issue now. In a way, I feel very sad because an army soldier has lost his life. Now, the ruling party DMK is on the back foot and trying to do nonsense."

"Today as we speak now, the ex-military wing of Tamil Nadu BJP is holding a protest in Krishnagiri. The accused should not just be arrested, but should be given exemplary punishment. A few days from now, I will be leading a one-day fast at the war memorial in Chennai with the retired army personnel of Tamil Nadu. We have invited all of them and it's a non-political event. Because, we have to build awareness to respect army men just like the kind of respect they get in different parts of northern states. But, somehow in Tamil Nadu, due to Dravidian politics, they are not given respect," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the TN BJP chief took to his official Twitter handle and stated that the ex-military wing of Tamil Nadu BJP will hold a protest in front of the District Collector's offices today in honor of the victim. "As a mark of respect to the Army man Thiru Prabhu who was beaten to death by a DMK councillor, members of @BJP4TamilNadu Ex-Servicemen wing wearing their Badge & Cap will protest against the DMK govt for this cruel disrespect to our Indian Army. #DMK_Kills_Soldier. The protest tomorrow will be carried out by the members of @BJP4TamilNadu Ex-Servicemen wing in their respective district collectorate. Ex-Servicemen wing President Lt Col. Raman will pay homage to Thiru Prabhu on behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu. I invite all the Ex-Servicemen to join me for a protest from the war memorial in the next few days against the @arivalayam party for the appalling state of governance making the State unsafe for even Army men," he wrote.

Meanwhile, DMK spokesperson, TKS Elangovan also spoke to ANI and said, "There was a murder and the police have taken action. It was a local issue, where a small quarrel got escalated and resulted in murder. All those (involved) have been arrested."

Lance Naik M Prabhu was ambushed by Chinnaswamy, DMK councillor, and others and was brutally beaten up, the police said.

All the nine accused have been remanded in police custody.